Russia missed me so much, she didn't want me to leave!

Disclaimer: This post is about 2 months overdue and it is very long!

My last trip of the summer was to Russia. Back to where I'd spent a year and a half of my life. Back to where I'd had some amazing experience. Back to where I'd met so many amazing people. Back to where I'd learned and grown so much.

It was interesting to visit Russia 10 years later and see the change and growth that has taken place.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit any of the cities where I'd lived but I was able to visit Moscow again and St. Petersburg, which has always been a dream of mine.

Having been to to Moscow, I knew it wasn't my favorite city. It's big, a bit dirty, and, aside from the Kremlin and Red Square, not the most beautiful city I've visited. But for me, there was something magical about it. The signs in cyrillic. The random construction EVERYWHERE. The Babyskas. The drunk people. Tons of appartment buildings that all look the same. Memories of 10 years earlier flooded my mind. I remember landing in Russia 10 years and how little I'd known about Russia. The signs that had once looked so foreign to me, now brought a feeling of being at home.

We spent the next couple of days visiting the sites in Moscow. The first place we visisted was a church that I hadn't seen before. The Church of Christ, our Savior. We visited Red Square, The Kremlin, Tolstoy's home, Statue Park, St. Basil's Cathedral, and all the fun sites in Russia.

The Church of Christ, our Savior

A view of the Kremlin and Red Square

Inside the Kremlin

St. Basil's Cathredral

I look like a Babyska! At a Monastery

GOING TO CHURCH! :)

Statue Park

We then headed on an overnight train to St. Petersburg! Oh this brought back such good memories of the mission. I'd forgotten how hard it is to sleep on a moving train (it wasn't moving so smoothly).

I LOVED ST. PETERSBURG! It was a beautiful city, right on the Neva River. The first site we went to was the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was a fun fortress to explore. We found where Anastasia remains were placed in the cathedral. We also visited the Prison, which was an eye opening experience.

Gotta love the LADAs and VOLGAs!

A view of our hotel in St. Petersburg

This is what we spent a lot of time doing!

Peter the Great

Anastasia

Life in Prison

Sunbathers at the Peter and Paul Fortress

LADA

The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood

It's a beautiful Church! I watched a man paint a picture of it and decided to buy it.

The Hertimage, Winter Palace, was one of the most amazing buildings I've ever visited. Not only were the rooms all beautiful decorated but the artwork found within was amazing! We spent a whole day discovering the treasures within. Even at the days end, there was still a lot that we had yet to see. (Guess I'll just have to come back again some day!)

Cupid as a Begger

Admiring Van Gogh's paintings

Dancing in the Ballroom

Eating Borscht

Bronze Horseman

Men playing Chess

The Brothers Karamazov was written here by Dyotoyevsky

The changing of the names of Saint Petersburg

ABC - YEP that's us! Ashley, Bekah, Christain! Thank you Graffiti for making it possible.

The other amazing site in St. Petersburg is the Peterhoff, which is the Summer Palace. We ferried over to the Peterhoff. Not only was the palace beautiful, but the grounds and the gardens were gorgeous.

On the Ferry to Peterhoff!

I love the many faces of Smashie!

Favorite pic of the trip!

Hermitage in the background

Back in Moscow, we were staying at one of the nicest hotels. We decided to take a day trip to Sergiev Posad. This was a smaller town with lots of enchanting churches. It was fun to spend the day in a town that felt more like where I served my mission.

Classic

So well we'd been enjoying our trip, we'd heard rumors from our friends in Virginia that Hurricane Irene was coming and may prevent us from leaving. As our trip was nearing the end, it became more and more apparent that we would probably not be making it back to the USA, as planned. Fortunately, we were staying in a nice hotel and they were willing to let us stay there longer.

This did put a wrench in the rest of our trip, as we spent what was going to be our last day in Moscow at the airport, trying to get visas extended and figure out our flight situation. This was a frustrating day with lots of walking back and forth between Terminal D and Terminal E. I was reminded of the poor customer service. Russians generally only like to help you if it's convenient for them. It was not convenient for them to help us on this day!

The Great Theater was just down the street from our hotel

Waiting to see Lenin before we'd spend the rest of the day at the airport

Sunday, which was suppose to be our last day in Russia, ended up being one of my favorite days. I went to church and was able to see a lot of friends and people that I would not have been able to see otherwise. During frustrating situations, there is always good to be found.

Yay for good friends!

We headed to the airport early the next day. We waited in several lines. It was apparent that several hundred people were trying to make it to NYC, since all flights there had been cancelled for the past two days. We finally make it to the front of the line, 4 hours later. I got my ticket and they checked my bag. Unfortunately, my friends didn't make it on the flight with me. I must have gotten the last remaining seat of the flight. I don't know how or why it was me.

I felt awful leaving them behind but I had to go. On the plane, it turned out that they had double booked my seat. I knew the flight was not going to have any empty spots and I thought for sure they were going to tell me that they couldn't accommodate me. But they found me a seat and I made it to NYC. In NYC, they didn't have a flight to DC for me until the next day. Tired of traveling and just wanting to home, I ended up renting a car and driving the rest of the way. I will say, I was never so excited to be home and have my boyfriend waiting at my house for me. It was one of the greatest feelings ever!